JACKSON COUNTY, MI – Voters in parts of Jackson County will head to the polls Tuesday to decide on funding measures for school and public safety systems.

Millage proposals for Napoleon Township’s police and fire departments, East Jackson Community Schools and Concord Community Schools are on the ballot.

Polls will be open from 7 am to 8 pm Tuesday, May 7.

Napoleon Township police and fire department operating millage renewal

Napoleon Township residents will decide on Tuesday whether or not to continue funding the community’s police and fire departments. A mileage renewal would 2.25 mills on property tax bills for the next five years, collecting an estimated $642,231 to pay for police and fire services in its first year.

Related: Napoleon voters to decide police millage renewal in May election

After the milage was first passed in 2019, the township was able to upgrade aging equipment and hire three full-time police officers and three full-time firefighters. If the milage fails to pass, the six jobs will be in jeopardy, Napoleon Police Chief Duaine Pittman said previously.

East jackson schools bond extension

Voters within the East Jackson Community Schools district will be asked if they support a proposal allowing the school system to borrow $9.9 million and extend its current 7-mill tax levy from 2037 to 2044. The proposal calls for a zero-mill increase bond extension, meaning residents will not pay more in taxes said Superintendent Stephen Doerr.

Read more: Bond extension would fund East Jackson school projects at no new cost to taxpayers, officials say

The money raised if the bond passes would be used to address the district’s needs for the next five to 10 years, Doerr said. Planned improvement projects will largely focus on security and safety upgrades and districtwide HVAC updates, as well as finishing roofing work that began with the district’s previous capital improvement project.

Other improvements would include districtwide security upgrades, installing new instructional technology for all school buildings, purchasing school buses, improving pedestrian traffic areas and improving playgrounds and athletic fields among several other districtwide facility upgrades, according to the proposal.

Concord Community Schools sinking fund renewal

A five-year renewal of Concord Community Schools’ sinking fund would collect about $358,034 in 2025 if approved and levied by voters, school officials said. If passed, the currently authorized millage rate of 1.9213 mills would be renewed for 2025-29.

The renewal of the sinking fund would allow Concord to maintain a steady schedule of construction and repair work across all school buildings, Superintendent Becky Hutchinson said, adding the district is spending an average of about $300,000 annually on improvement and maintenance work. Without the sinking fund, the money for this work might instead come out of Concord’s general fund, Hutchinson said.

Sinking fund renewal would help Concord schools continue building maintenance

Marshall Public Schools bond proposal

A proposed bond would allow Marshall Public Schools to borrow $90 million for the purpose of erecting a secure vestibule addition to Hughes Elementary School and adding air conditioning to Gordon Elementary School and Marshall Middle School, among several other remodeling, furnishing and equipping and projects across the district.

The estimated millage that will be levied for the proposed bonds in 2024 is 4.95 mills, entailing a -one-mill net increase over the prior year’s levy. An exception will be made for the territory of the former Albion Public Schools district, which will have a 4.95-mill increase over last year’s levy, according to the proposal.

To read the milage language as it will appear on the ballot, click here.

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